Super PACs amplify S.C. hardball

The South Carolina primary’s often been the crucible for ugly Republican-on-Republican violence. This year, though, there’s a new twist, thanks to the rise of super PACs: A state that has tended to see its battles fought more in terms of stealth politics is now seeing them waged on the open airwaves.

Story Continued Below

In a state where consultants are factionalized, and local political issues tend to get grafted onto the broader race, that’s deepened the potential political sandtrap for Mitt Romney as he tries to score his third consecutive early state win on Jan. 21.

The problem for Romney: Though South Carolina has a history of going with the eventual Republican nominee, it also has a history of roughing everyone up — a consequence of the state’s penchant for bare-knuckle politics and candidates who look to the state as their last stand.

“What campaigns often forget is that when you set foot in South Carolina, you’re in their house,” said one veteran GOP strategist, who — like many interviewed — requested anonymity for fear of offending GOPers in the state. “And all the stuff that plays out on the national stage is relevant there, but it’s not nearly as relevant as the local battles that they use presidential campaigns as proxies to fight.”

Working in Romney’s favor — a campaign focused on the economy in a state where unemployment hovers just below 10 percent, and well above the national average. That’s part of the reason it’s unclear whether attacks on his tenure at Bain Capital will resonate.

But another national GOP strategist, referring to Romney, said of his campaign, “They are starting to show some cracks and concerns. I don’t think he’s in danger of losing [the nomination], but I think he’s in danger of being a weak front-runner which encourages all these folks to stay in. Iowa has its evangelicals, but South Carolina — if the Mormon thing is going to be a problem — this is where it’s going to show up.”

An analysis by The State, the largest South Carolina newspaper, showed this weekend that an astonishing $11.3 million has been spent on TV ads — the majority of which are anti-Newt Gingrich spots run by a pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future.

They’re hardly the only ones, though. The pro-Gingrich group Winning Our Future has also been running ads culled from an a 28-minute movie it purchased about Romney’s private equity company, Bain Capital.

South Carolina is where John McCain’s 2000 campaign, flush from a New Hampshire win, was pierced with rumors that his adopted daughter was the result of an affair, that his wife Cindy was hooked on drugs — and more. It’s the state where its current governor, Nikki Haley, an Indian-American, was called a “raghead” openly by a local politician during her 2010 campaign.